Bumpy ride.
Baimu was shoved somewhere.
He perked up his ears and listened carefully, his tense body slowly relaxing.
Beep.
A soft sound.
He took off the blindfold as promised and opened the Pokeball.
Bam!
A white shadow shot out, transforming into an Aron the size of a border collie as it landed.
"Goo!"
"Don't panic, we're safe for now."
Baimu surveyed the surroundings.
He was lucky; the landing spot was a long slope littered with rocks, surrounded by bizarre towering rock mountains, with no sign of human life.
He pulled a soil-colored cloak from his backpack and wrapped it around himself, shielding against the harsh sunlight. He glanced at Aron, which had already donned desert camouflage, confirming it wouldn't cause any reflections, and nodded in satisfaction.
"Money well spent."
The most embarrassing aspect of Aron's movement in the desert is its metallic shell easily reflecting sunlight, attracting enemy attention.
To prevent the reflective surface, he specifically made a few cloth-based soil-colored protective covers.
But they probably won't last long, a battle or digging a hole might wear them out quickly; better than nothing.
"Next... there's something indeed."
Baimu rummaged through his backpack and found a tiny opening at the bottom, inside was a small black rice-sized item—
A transmitter.
Are they taking people for fools, or is there a lack of communication between operatives and assistants?
He tossed the transmitter to Aron, instructing it to chew it into fine fragments, "We need to move quickly; our location might already be compromised."
"Goo!"
The wristbands distributed by the organizers not only trigger battles but also have a radar search function, showing nearby enemies as red dots every half hour, active for three minutes.
In other words, constantly dodging is not feasible.
Moreover.
Buzz buzz buzz—
Like the hum of mosquitoes, the sound drew closer, and Baimu looked up to see a lime-green Aerial Rotom coming from somewhere, hovering above his head.
About three meters off the ground.
Following shots.
Right, since it's a spectator event, how could it lack following shots?
But with this thing hanging above, the risk of revealing position greatly increases, setting ambushes won't be so effective.
Baimu and Aron spaced themselves five meters apart, raising his arm to begin using the search function.
Beep!
A light screen popped up on the wristband, revealing a very simple map, and several flashing red dots as the vertical bar rotated.
Contestants can't see their teammates' locations, if they want to know, they can only judge the approximate position through the stopping hint from the Aerial Rotom.
Avoid entering the "encirclement."
Baimu glanced at the map, each direction had at least one red dot, he chose the most distant one.
Trying to stay away from densely populated places, then capture and battle with that farthest target.
But just as he was about to set off, a small red dot on the radar stopped flashing and became solid.
"Is this... a battle engaged?"
He was taken aback, not expecting a fight to break out so soon, immediately taking Aron away.
——
Three kilometers away from Baimu, on the other side of a towering rock mountain.
Amid the complex network of paths, several figures either fled or pursued.
"Stop bullying!"
The fleeing person shouted angrily, "Sandslash use Missile Needle!"
With these words, a rolling giant dark brown spiny ball glowed with a faint green hue, several thick conical light arrows suddenly shot backward!
Puff puff puff!
The light arrows resembling fireworks left a trail, looking quite terrifying.
The pursuer sneered, showing no fear on his face.
"Pursuit!"
"Aw!"
After a howl, a swift gray-black shadow dodged the green light arrows effortlessly, ignoring the curled-up Sandslash, heading straight for the Trainer!
Bang!
"Ah!"
The fleeing person let out an intense scream, falling to the ground, pinned down tightly.
And that gray shadow was a Mightyena over a meter tall, with its head making it about 1.3 meters.
"Sandslash!"
Sensing the Trainer's precarious situation, the Sandslash in spike form howled and charged towards Mightyena, suddenly leaping up!
"Frozen Beam!"
A blue icy beam, sudden and precise, struck its body with the shout!
Bam!
White mist dispersed.
The Sandslash, no longer in spike form, was half-buried in the ground, its claws covered with a layer of white frost, motionless.
"Sandslash..."
The Quicksand Team Member suppressed by Mightyena bit his jaw tight, desperately trying to reach for the Pokeball, only for his wrist to be stepped on by the arriving Kenichi.
"You're really a coward, running away as soon as you see me. Where did all that bravado go when you were cursing outside?"
He spat in dissatisfaction, the black-and-white Galarian Linoone beside him let out a shrill, peculiar laugh.
"Maaaaugh!"
Without a doubt, it was this Galarian Linoone that just took down the Sandslash.
Ken looked around, poking the man's face with his shoe tip, "Among you, where's that guy named Baimu? Have you seen him?"
"Grrr..."
Mightyena lowered its head, its sharp teeth intentionally or unintentionally brushing against the Quicksand Team Member's neck.
"...Gulp."
The Quicksand Team Member's eyes were filled with terror, the rage utterly scattered by the will to survive, "Saying it can save a life, right?"
Ken's lips curled up, "Negotiating? I'll believe it when I see it."
Mightyena was about to bite down without hesitation.
"East!"
The man immediately cried out in a wretched shout, though he had no clue, for survival, he had to make something up, "Over to the east!"
Ken raised his right hand, and Mightyena stopped its biting motion.
He looked at the man before him, whose face was twisted with fear, trembling uncontrollably, and burst out laughing, "Coward! Wimp! Is this the kind of people Quicksand Team trains?"
He turned to look at the Aerial Rotom in the air, his expression extremely mocking.
Afterwards.
Ken first took all the Pokémon from the Quicksand Team Member, stripped him naked, had Mightyena burn his clothes with Flame Fang, and then stepped on and broke his left and right ankles.
Listening to the wailing cries, Ken happily said, "Rest assured, I'm a very kind person, I don't like killing.
"But before someone comes to save you, whether you fall to your death, I really don't know."
Mightyena and Galarian Linoone were retracted by Ken, who then released a stout Honchkrow wearing a top hat, instructing it to hang the man on a distant pillar-like giant rock.
The Quicksand Team Member cried and struggled but was powerless to resist, leaving himself to be dragged and precariously hung at the summit by Honchkrow.
The helpless Quicksand Team Member could only hug the peak with both hands.
This giant rock was dozens of meters high, a fall from there would either mean death or severe injury.
"Scream for help, haha!"
Ken laughed heartily from below.
One of the Aerial Rotoms circled the naked Quicksand Team Member filming, while another descended beside Ken.
"You've received a total reward of 450,000."
"Hehe, thank you all."
Ken slightly bowed towards the Aerial Rotom's camera.
In fact, not only the top-tier VIPs could tip, anyone following the battle, regardless of faction, could contribute.
So his target also included those displeased with Quicksand Team, thrill-seekers, and those with twisted mentalities.
Not going all out on the carnage was not wanting it to be too gory; he knew many women among the VIPs, certain things are too stimulating and easily upset them.
Breaking bones wasn't visibly bloody, stripping was mere humiliation.
He did not even care whether what the person said was true or not, just emphasizing the point of betraying one's own.
Perfect!
As for what Quicksand Team thinks...
Who cares!
He spared the person a life, what more should he do? Better think about how much it'll cost to redeem those Pokémon!
Battle victory rewards, tipping rewards, plus opponent's Pokémon retrieval fees—
What a fortune!
Ken licked his lips in excitement, confidently took a small box out of his pocket, glanced at it, then frowned.
No signal?
Oh well.
The battlefield isn't that big, he'll run into it eventually.
Outside the battlefield.
The Quicksand Team's base was enveloped in a heavy atmosphere, with many passersby casting mocking glances in that direction.
In the competition's main control room, amidst the noisy crowd, Ayana ignored the strange looks from those around her, as well as the smug expression of the black-faced man not far away, staring coldly at the screen.